Television’s larger than fiction leading characters

As Don Draper makes his return this week, John Daly picks TV’s most memorable characters, many of them so influential, we forget they never actually lived.

IF STAYING in really is the new going out, chances are this change in social habits is down to our favourite TV characters. With television now muscling out cinema as the best entertainment option, much of the attraction likely revolves around our favourite characters — those larger than fiction creations who almost seem real after six or seven seasons. Part of our attraction to the leading men and ladies of 2014 is often about their inner demons — more flawed than flawless, more immoral than moral, and frequently with mean streaks as shocking as they are attractive. In honour of the return of Don Draper tomorrow night, we pay homage to famous people who never actually existed.

Don Juan of the Martini